by Edith Nesbit (1858 - 1924)
Summer Song
Language: English
There are white moon daisies in the mist of the meadow Where the flowered grass scatters its seeds like spray, There are purple orchis by the wood-ways' shadow, There are pale dog-roses by the white highway; And the grass, the grass is tall, the grass is up for hay, With daisies white like silver and buttercups like gold, And it's oh! for once to play thro' the long, the lovely day, To laugh before the year grows old! There is silver moonlight on the breast of the river Where the willows tremble to the kiss of night, Where the nine tall aspens in the meadow shiver, Shiver in the night wind that turns them white. And the lamps, the lamps are lit, the lamps are glow-worms light, Between the silver aspens and the west's last gold. And it's oh! to drink delight in the lovely lonely night, To be young before the heart grows old!
Text Authorship:
- by Edith Nesbit (1858 - 1924) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Lauren McCormick (b. 1999), "Summer Song", first performed 2022 [ mezzo-soprano, violin and violoncello ]
Score: Youtube [external link]  [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-11-08
Line count: 16
Word count: 155